What We Know About the Arlington National Cemetery Incident at Camp Camp

Photo: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Donald Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to remember the 13 American servicemen killed in Afghanistan in the past three years. But a report recently surfaced about a dispute between his campaign staff and a cemetery official over taking photographs in a restricted area, sparking an already escalating tension. Although Trump’s team cited the support of Gold Star family members accompanying him on the visit, critics say the Republican candidate violated a federal law barring campaign activity on the internet. Here, what we know so far.

Trump was at the cemetery to take part in a ceremony honoring the 13 US servicemen who were killed by a suicide bomb at Abbey Gate during the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. During his visit, he laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and stopped at the burial sites of several servicemen along with their relatives and loved ones.

But NPR reports that there was an altercation between Trump campaign staffers and an Arlington employee. This happened when members of Trump’s team tried to take pictures and record videos in Section 60, a cemetery reserved for members of the military who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A source told NPR that a cemetery employee tried to stop the workers from entering the section, but then they “cursed and pushed the officer aside.”

Arlington National Cemetery confirmed in a statement to NPR that the incident took place and that a report had been issued, indicating that the campaign’s actions would have been illegal. “Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activities within the Military Cemeteries, including photographers, reporters or any other persons present on purpose, or otherwise. direct support of a political candidate’s campaign,” the statement said. “Arlington National Cemetery has reinforced and shared this rule and its restrictions with all participants.”

An Army spokesman issued a statement Thursday, again confirming the incident without mentioning Trump or his campaign directly. They said the people involved were advised of the government’s laws prohibiting political activity in cemeteries. “The ANC official who tried to ensure compliance with these rules was suddenly sidelined. In line with the behavior expected of the ANC, this official acted with integrity and avoided further disruption,” read the statement. . The spokesperson confirmed that a report was made to the police but the employee chose not to press charges. The employee reportedly feared retaliation from Trump supporters if he pursued charges, military officials told New York. Times.

Prior to the visit to the cemetery, Trump had already come under intense scrutiny for his speech about the military, after recent comments in which he said the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a national honor , was better than receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. In 2020, Atlantic Ocean published a story that former President Trump had called American WWI soldiers buried at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris “losers” and “scumbags” in 2018 when explaining his reason for to cancel a trip to visit this place, citing well-known sources. in conversation.

The Trump campaign immediately took a defensive stance after the incident was reported, largely blaming the cemetery official. In a statement to NPR, which first broke the story, Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, denied that there had been a physical altercation and said the Trump team was willing to provide its transcript to combat “the reports insulting”.

“The fact is that private photography is allowed in the area and for whatever reason an unnamed person, who suffered from mental illness, decided to block members of President Trump’s team during the solemn ceremony,” he said.

The campaign also released a statement signed by relatives of the two dead staffers, Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover and Sergeant Nicole Gee, saying they had given permission for Trump’s official photographer and videographer to attend the ceremony and that the Republican nominee and his team “did it. with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity.”

Trump’s partner, JD Vance, rejected the controversy as a presenter led by the media during Wednesday’s campaign and took a shot at Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing her of the 2021 attack that took place under the Biden administration. He said: “Three years ago, 13 brave, innocent Americans died, and they died because Kamala Harris refused to do her job, and there is no have one investigation or one shooting,” he said.

Vance accused Harris of trying to criticize Trump for the visit to Arlington, even though the vice president himself had not spoken publicly about the incident at the time. “And you want to yell at Donald Trump because he was born? He can – he can go to hell,” he said.

Trump spoke about the visit during a campaign stop on Thursday, saying relatives of fallen service members had invited him to Arlington and dismissing the controversy as coming from “Washington.”

“So, I go there, they asked me to have a picture and they said I was a campaigner,” he said. “The one thing I get is a lot of publicity. I don’t need that. I don’t need publicity.”

Arlington National Cemetery is a frequent site for official visits by American leaders, with presidents often marking Memorial Day and Veterans Day with words and a wreath-laying ceremony at the historic site. In general, cemeteries allow photography by members of the public within its grounds with specific media rules. But Trump’s visit may run afoul of 32 CFR 553, a federal law that states, “Memorial services and ceremonies at Military Cemeteries shall not include political activities.”

The campaign’s use of the images taken on Monday so far appears to be political. Dan Scavino Jr., a senior campaign consultant whose social media feeds heavily on ads and segments of campaign rallies, shared a video of Trump at a service member’s grave with family members. see.

Trump later shared a video on TikTok with footage from his Arlington visit, including him visiting the Section 60 cemetery with Gold Star family members. The accompanying message left no doubt that the video was intended to be a political message. It featured Trump’s voice criticizing the Biden administration for its handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan: “We haven’t lost a single person in 18 months and they took that crisis, from Afghanistan.”

Although legal questions surrounding the incident remain open, Trump’s visit upset at least one Gold Star family. The Times reported that relatives of Master Sergeant Andrew Marckesano expressed concern that Trump filmed at his gravesite without permission. Marckesano’s headstone can be seen in videos of Trump laying flowers in Section 60 near the grave of Sergeant Hoover, whose family accompanied the former president to the site.

In a statement to TimesMarckesano’s sister, Michele, said their family is supporting the Hoover family and others as they search for more information about the Afghanistan bomb. “However, according to our communication with Arlington National Cemetery, Trump campaign staff did not follow the rules for this visit to Staff Sergeant Hoover’s grave in Section 60, which is located near my brother’s grave,” he said. that said.